Batchmeter



R. F. LINDOW Oct. 29, 1935.

BATCHMETER Filed Oct. 26, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l EEE-EQ R. F. LINDow Oct. 29, 1935.

BATCHMETER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 BudozplmLindO-w,

' Filed Oct. 26, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 29, 1935. R. F.'| |NDow BATCHMETER Filed oct. 2e. 1951 inllllllh u IIUIIIIII N IIIHIII will llllllll R. F. LlNDOW Oct. 29,' 1935.

BATCHMETER Filed Oct. 26, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Oct. 29, 1935 BATCHMETER Rudolph F. Lindow, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Chain Belt Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application October 26, 1931, Serial No. 571,265

16 Claims.

c This invention relates to mechanism for timing the operations of various types of machines,

such for example as concrete mixers, such mechanism being commonly known as a batchmeter,

.and has for one of its objects to improve prior constructions of this type whereby a more eilicient batchmeter will result.

A further object of the invention is to provide a, device of this character which is susceptible of '10. infinitely fine adjustment whereby the length of the timing operation may be very accurately controlled.

A further object of the invention is to provide a batchmeter which includes a driven member '15 which always travels a fixed predetermined dis- `25 whereby it may always be in position to begin a new timing cycle without the necessity for resetting or returning the -apparatus to a xed or variable starting point.

A still further object of the invention is to 3Q provide a batchmeter in which the force for driving the driven member is applied by a yielding means such for example as a tension spring, the tension of which is automatically relieved at the end of a timing cycle in order to stop the drive.

' 35 A still further object of the invention is to improve and simplify the signal-operating mech-anism of the batchmeter whereby a signal may be given at the beginning of the timing operation, at the close thereof, and a warning signal "40 may also be given at a predetermined period prior to the close of the timing cycle.`

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel details of construc- 45 tion and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming, a part of this specific-ation in which like 50 reference characters designate like parts in all the views:-

Figure 1 is a. front elevational view of a batchmeter constructed in accordance with the present invention, the cover or face plate of the housing being .removed to expose the operating parts,

and the parts being shown in the positions they occupy invtheir state of rest at the close of and prior to the beginning of a timing operation;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken approximately on the plane indicated by the 5 line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the parts in the positions they assume immediately after the starting of a timing operation;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken -approximately on the plane indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional elevational view looking from the rear of the mechanism and taken apl5 proximately on the plane indicated'by the line 5 5 of Figure 6, the parts being shown in the positions they occupy just preceding the close of the timing operation and at the point when the intermediate or warning signal is about to be given;

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view of the parts shown in Figure 5, taken approximately on the plane indicated by the line 6 6 of Figure 5, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Y Figure 7 is a diagrammatic elevational View of a portion ofas a concrete mixer illustrating the relative position of the batchmeter, the driving means therefor, and one means of starting the batchmeter to begin a timing operation, through the movement of the arm which c-arries the charging skip oi the mixer.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 to 6 inclusive of the drawings the timing mechanism comprises a casing or housing Ii) in which is journalled in a suitable bearing I I the power or driving shaft I2. The inner end of said shaft I2 carries the driving cam or eccentric I3, fast thereto, the periphery oi which cam is engaged by a roller I4 carried by the inverted T-shaped 40 operating lever I5 which is journalled on a shaft IS carried by bearing ears or lugs I'I rigid with the casing Ii). A coil spring I8 has one end anchored to an extension I5' of the operating lever I5 and its other end secured to a suitable 45 eye I9 carried by the casing I0, and maintains the roller IQ in engagement with the driving cam or eccentric I3, as will be readily understood.

One arm of the T-shaped lever I5 is recessed to receive a hardened steel ball 20 which is 50 adapted to engage the surface 2| of an arm 22 which is rigid with housing 23 of an intermittent gripping device, here shown as comprising a oneway clutch of the roller type.

Asbest shown in Figures 3 and 6 the said 5 5 clutch, in additionto the housing 23, comprises Y adriven clutch spool 24 mounted uponthe clutch shaft 25, provided with camming surfaces 26 and spring pressed'rollers 21 co-acting'therewith in the usual manner to provide a one-way drive mechanism of well known type.

The clutch spool 24 has rigidly secured to it a driving gear or pinion'30 the teeth of which mesh Vwith those of a driven gearV 3| which is rigidly carried by the main shaft 32 journalled in the bearing 33 of the casing I0. The said gear 3| is Vrigid and concentric with a lockingA plate or disk 34 through which the shaft 32 passes and which disk is provided with a peripheral notch or recess .35 which is adapted tov receive the locking toe 36 of a locking arm 31 at Vthe Y close o1Y each timing operation and thereby lock vthe diskV 34 and'gear 3| against rotation until the'parts are again tripped, as will appear more g fully below, The said locking arm 31 is rigidly secured to a locking arm shaft3'8 journalled'in the bearing 39 ofthe housing I0, andthe said lockingv arm is provided Ywith a lateral and forward extension 4U to'which is anchored as at 4| one end of Va coiled tension spring 42'.V 'I'he other end of the said spring is anchored as at 43 to one end of bracket 44, the other end of which is pivotally secured as by pin 45 to the Varm 22 of the clutch housing 23.` The parts are so' ,constructed and assembled that when the locking toe 36 of the locking arm 31 drops into'the notch 35 of the locking disk'34 as illustrated in YFigures l and 2,'the tension exerted by the springV 42 isV completely relieved and the arm 22 and Y clutch housing( 23 Yare permitted to drop to the 1 positions shown inthe said iigures in which poV housingY 23r in a'counter'clockwise direction, as- Aviewed in Figure 3, causing the clutch rollers 21 sitions the jclutch rollers 21 have released Vthe K clutch spool 24.A On the other hand when the locking toe 36 is withdrawn from the locking notch 35 so that the parts occupy the positions shown in Figures 3 and 4 thespring 42 is extended and'caused to exert force through the bracket 44 upon the arm 22 to move the clutch to be wedged between the spool 24 and inner circumference of the housing 23, whereby motion may be imparted to the spool, and throughv it Vand pinion carried thereby, to gear 3| and disk 34 to drive the latter in a clockwise direc-V tion, vas indicated by the arrows in Figures 1 and 3. In the meantime the driving shaft I2, which is continuously driven vthrough any suitable source Y of course4 against the tension of spring 42, and

of power, is rotating the driving cam or eccen- -tricf|3 to cause oscillation of the T-shaped op,

erating lever 5 through engagement of its roller I4with the said cam.- As the cam I3 moves from its positionV illustrated in Figure 4 to that illustrated'in Figure 2, the operating lever I5 is moved in a counter-clockwise direction, asviewed in said figures, to depressV its left Vhand arm vand through thehardened steel ball 2|) to impart downward Vmovement to the clutch arm 22, re-

turning'it'from'the position shown in Figure 3 tov that shown inFigure l.V This movement is it has the effect of causing the clutch rollers 21 to releasel the spool 24, no motion being transmitted in this direction by the clutch to the pinion 3|), gear`3| Yand locking disk 34. Continued rota.-

tionkofthe driving cam I3 permits. the return of operating lever I5 to the position shown in 'Figure 4, under the iniiuence of spring I8, and the spring 42 pulls the clutch arm 22 upwardly, thereby through the clutch rollers 21 and spool 'geweer Y i y 24 again imparting a step or impulse to pinion 30, gear 3| and locking disk 34. It follows that so long as the locking arm 31 is in the position shown in: Figures 3 and 5 with its locking toe 36 ridingV on the outer periphery of the locking 5 disk 34; intermittentmovement will be imparted in the manner just described through the gear 3| and rdisk 34 to produce step-by-step rotation of the same. This intermittent rotation is continued until the notch 35 is again brought be-Y neath the toe 36 of operating arm 31 whereupon the said toe drops into the notch, relieving the. tension of the spring 42, and permitting the clutch arm 22vto drop to the positionl shown in'Figure 1,

in which it is not'affected by the continued oscil- 15 Y Y lation of the operating lever I5, which is continuously moved back and forth by; the Ydriving cam I3 and spring I8 'regardless of whether the batchmeter is performinga timing operation or not.V Y i From what hasbeen heretofore disclosed it will' be readily understood that during each timing operation or cycle, gear 3| and locking disk 34 must perform a complete revolution, or in other words, must travel through a predetermined xedfl'25 distance. V.In order that the length of the timing cycle'may be varied at will without theV necessity of changing this predetermined fixed length of travel, provision is madewhereby the lengthof each impulse or step-by-step movement irnpartedf'g'` to the members 3| Vand-34 may be varied so that Ythe rate of movement of the said membersy 3| and 34 throughout their fixed length of travel will be changed, and consequently the length ofv the timing cycle changed. The means here shown E15 for accomplishing this variation Vin the value of the driving impulse or step-by-step movement comprises an adjustment screw 53 threaded intoV a support5| which may be rigid with thedrivingshaft Vbearing VThe lowerY end 52 oi.' the said l@ adjustmentscrew is adapted to be engaged'by an extensionk53 of the clutch arm 22 upon its upward stroke, androbviously by moving the adjustmentscrew 5U up or down, as the case may be, Y Y the length of the driving stroke of the clutch 5' arm 22 may be varied and consequently the length of the intermittent movement imparted through the pinion 36, gear 3| Vand disk 34. AV suitable scale 54 israssociated with the adjustment screw I for indicating the amount of adjustment made, 50 and' Vobviously the intermittent grip'device exemplified by the one-way clutch 23, 24, 21, isy

tion, a suitable frictionrbrake or other analogous o0 device maybev associated with the clutch. kAs best shown in Figures 2, 4, and 6 of the present drawings, thisibraking device may comprise apair of metal disks 55 and 55 the former of Awhich may be Ymounted upon 'an extension ofY clutch 05 spool 24 while the latter is carried by a squared V- portion 25 of the clutch shaft 25.l Between the Vsaid disks 55 and 56 is interposed a disk or annulus 51 of Vfriction material, and the disk 56 is yieldingly pressed against said frictionv disk 51 70 Vby a spring 58, one end of which bearsagainst the saidV disk 56, the other end ofJ which bears against the shaft bearing 59 of the housing I0.

Obviously Yany suitable form of braking device may be employed in lieu of that just described 715 for preventing reverse movement of the driven parts to eliminate back lash.

1t is customary in devices of this character to provide some sort of signal, usually an audible signal, for indicating the beginning and ending of a timing cycle and it is also desirable that a third signal or indication be given a short time, say two seconds, prior to the completion of the cycle. In order that these signals may be given in connection with the batchmeter constituting the present invention, there is provided a. signal- 'ling device 88 having a pair of gongs o-r bells 8| and 82 which are adapted to be alternately actuated through relatively rapid movements in one direction or the other of a plunger or rod 63. The said bells however are not sounded through comparatively slow movement of said plunger 83 in either direction. The details oi this signal device form no particular part of the present invention and have not been illustrated.

For moving the plunger 88 in order to sound the signals 8| and 82 at the proper time there is provided a signal actuating lever which is loosely mounted upon the locking arm shaft 38. This said lever 65 is provided with a pair of lateral extensions 68 and 81 the former of which is adapted to engage with the plunger 63 to move the same while the latter extension 61 is provided with an adjustment screw G8, the lower end of which is engaged at certain times by a finger 89 rigid with and constituting an extension of the locking arm 31. The signal operating lever 65 is further provided with a toe 18 which rides upon the periphery of a spiral cam 1| which is rigidly carried by the main shaft 32 and is rotatable with the gear 3| and locking disk 34.

With the parts in the positions shown in` Figure 1, at the start of the timing operation the locking arm shaft 38 is moved rather suddenly in a counter-clockwise direction to withdraw the locking toe 38 from the locking notch 35 to start the mechanism in operation. This movement depresses the extension 69 of the locking arm 31 and permits the signal operating lever 65 and plunger 83 to fall under the influence of gravity, thus sounding one of the gongs, say E2. This brings the toe 18 of the arm 85 into engagement with the low portion of the spiral cam 1|, and as this cam is rotated along with the gear 3| and disk 34 to bring its high portion beneath the toe 18, the arm 85 and plunger 83 are gradually raised to the positions shown in Fig. 5 which movement is so slow as not to cause sounding of the gongs. At a predetermined time before the locking toe 38 drops intoI the locking notch 35, say two seconds, the toe 18 of signal operatingY lever 65 reaches the abrupt shoulder 12 between the high and low portions or" the cam 1| and drops to the low portion thereby permitting the plunger 83 to fall rapidly under the inuence of gravity and again sound the signal, such as 62. At the completion of the timing cycle the toe 38 of operating arm 31 drops into notch 35 thereby rapidly elevating the nger 89, which through contact with the adjustment screw 88 rapidly raises the. signal lever 85 and plunger 63, sounding of the signal gong 8|. The signals 8| and 62 may be of diiferent tones and it thus results that suitable signals are given at the beginning and close of the timing cycle and a warning signal is givenl at a predetermined time preceding the close of the cycle.

With the parts in the position shown in Figure l in orderY to start a timing cycle it is only necessarythat the locking arm shaft 3.8. be moved in a counter-clockwise direction a sufficient distance to withdraw the locking toe 36, of arm 31 from the notch 35 in disk 34, whereupon the intermittent drive above described will proceed. to move the gear 3i' and disk 34 in a clockwise direction by a series of step-by-step movements. The means for moving the shaft 38 to start the batchmeter into operation may vary according to the particular machine, the operations of which are to be timed, but since the present mechanism has been designed primarily for use in connection with a concrete mixer, such apparatus has been indicated in Figure 7 and one form of power drive and of tripping means for the batchmeter has been shown therein. In the said figure the mixing drum is indicated at 88, being suitably mounted for rotation in the frame-work 8|. The

batchmeter casing I8 is indicated in brokenI lines in its position at the side of the mixing drum 88 and its driving shaft I2 is shown as being connected through universal joints 82 and drive shaft 83 with a sprocket or gear 84 journalled within a housing 85 carried by a portion of the framework 8|. The sprocket or gear 84 may be continuously rotated through any suitable driving mechanism from the power plant of the mixer. g

The locking arm shait 38 of the batchmeter is provided with an arm or lever 86 rigidly secured to the shaft to turn therewith, which lever terminates in a toe 81 which is adapted to be moved to the broken line position illustrated in` Figure '1 when the batchmeter is in operation, where it engages with a hook 88 carried by a link 89 which is connected to the foot lever 98, which controls through the extension 9| and link 92, the power discharge mechanism, the automatic control mechanism, and/or other similar instrumentalities of the mixer. It thus results that with the parts in this position the operation of the power discharge, or the automatic control mechanism, is prevented so long as the batchmeter is in operation, since obviously the foot lever 98 cannot be depressed when the toe 81 of lever 86 is beneath the hook 88.

The locking arm shaft 38 of the batchmeter also carries astarting lever 93 which is loosely mounted on the said shaft and which is provided with a laterally extending ear 94 carrying an adjustment screw 95, which screw is adapted to engage with the lever 86 as clearly shown in Figures 6 and '1. The lower end of the starting lever 93 is connected by a link 96 to an arm 91 rigid with a jack shaft 98 supported by the frame-work 8|, which shaft also carries an arm 99 having a laterally extending link |88 which terminates in a toe |8| disposed in the path of a. lug |82 carried by the arm I 83, which supports the charging skip of the mixer, not shown. 'Ihe lug |82 is so positioned that as the charging skip arm |83 approaches its highest elevation as indicated in broken lines in Figure 7, the said lug engages with the projection |8| of the link |88 and moves said link toward the right, as viewed in Figure 7, thereby moving the arms 99 and 91 to their broken line positions. This motion is transmitted through link 96 to starting lever 93 and through its adjustment screw to the lever 86 and thence to the locking arm shaft 38 of the batchmeter to Withdraw the locking toe 36 of locking arm 31 from notch 35. The arm 88 may have a, tension spring |84 for returning it and the shaft 38 to inoperative or stopped position. A The front of the housing I0 is normally close by a cover plate |85 retained in position bysuitber for locking it against movement; a spring connected to said arm and said clutch, said arm when in locking position relieving the force eX- erted by said spring, and when moved to unlocking position causing said spring to exert force to move said clutch in its driving direction; and means for moving said clutch in its free direction against the action of said spring.

12. In batchmeter mechanism for timing an operation, a driven member having a recess; means including an intermittent grip device for driving said member in a single direction; an arm having a portion receivable in said recess for locking said member against movement; a spring connected to said arm and said intermittent grip device, said arm When in locking position relieving the force exerted by said spring, and when moved to unlocking position causing said spring to exert force on said intermittent grip device in its driving direction; and power driven means for moving said intermittent grip device in its free direction against the action of said spring.

13. In batchmeter mechanism for timing an operation, provided with a signal, a timing member, and means for locking said member against movement and releasing it, the combination of means operable by said locking means for actuating said signal as said locking means is moved to and from locking position.

14. In batchmeter mechanism for timing an operation, provided with a signal, a timing member, and means for locking said member against movementand releasing it, the combination of means operable by said locking means for actuating said signal as said locking means is moved both to and from locking position; and additional means operable by said timing member for independently actuating said signal intermediate its actuation by said locking means.

15. In batchmeter mechanism for timing an operation, provided with a signal and a timing member, the combination of an arm movable into and out of engagement With said timing member to lock and release the same, said arm having a portion for causing actuation 0f said signal upon movement of the arm both to and from locking position.

16. In batchmeter mechanism for timing an operation, provided with a signal, a timing member, and an arm movable Iinto and out of engagement With said timing member to lock and release the same, the combination of means intermediate said arm and signal for actuating the latter as said arm is moved both to and from locking position; and cam means for moving said actuating means independently of said arm, to cause it to actuate said signal intermediate its actuation by said arm.

RUDOLPH F. LINDOW. 

